December 24, 2010

ABT – Simkin & Riccetto – Exquisite Debuts 12/24

Today Haglund had the privilege of watching Daniil Simkin in his debut as a Prince in an ABT full length production. He and Maria Riccetto were The Nutcracker Prince and Clara, the Princess, at a morning performance of the new Ratmansky Nutcracker at BAM. Their performance was magical, in part, because of their youthfulness, not in spite of it. They also shared the genuine warmth and joy of dancing with one another that we saw with Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes on Wednesday night. They physically complimented one another in their form and demeanor; it was a very good match up of artists.

It would have been impossible for Simkin not to respond to Riccetto’s gorgeous smile – at its broadest, the nose crinkles and the eyes sparkle with excitement. She’s the Tiffany version of the ballerina in terms of brilliance, clarity, and style.

For his part, Simkin waltzed Riccetto around, lifted her, swirled her, turned her, caught her, and eventually proposed to her with great charm and efficiency. She leaped up toward him and before you knew it, she was up on the back of his shoulder in a jete position while he spun her around at a thrilling speed. Multiple times, she ran toward him, he threw her up in the air for a single revolution, and smoothly caught her as she came down. For someone rather small, he’s got might and a great deal of coordination.

The Grigorovich lift in the final grand pas was adapted close to the way Murphy and Hallberg did it last night but seemed more secure. Why can’t our dancers coordinate and pump this lift as Grigorovich’s dancers do? She runs, she jumps, he grabs her leg, presses her up, rotates her with his hand under her butt. All bets and money are now on Cornejo and Reyes to score this lift and save our dignity.

Of the three casts Haglund has seen so far, Simkin and Riccetto mimed the final proposal and wedding the clearest and most theatrically. It was worth an instant replay, but that will have to wait until Sunday at 1 p.m. So much good dancing to see, and so little time.

Simkin's and Riccetto's were not the only brilliant performances today. If Joseph Gorak was impressive on the first night of previews in the Chinese section, he was sensational this morning. Here is a dancer for whom no step is so small that it should not be executed fully and brilliantly. This guy’s dancing has details, details, and more details. Every step is always just slightly clearer than anyone else, slightly more emphatic, slightly more exacting. He stands out by doing everything slightly better than everyone else doing the same step. It must annoy the hell out of a lot of people with whom he dances, but it sure is a joy to watch.

The Arabian section had some difficulty today, technically and theatrically. They need to study Radetsky and group to find the comedic pulse of this section. The Recruit and the Canteen Keeper had uneven performances. That final pose for the Recruit where the right leg is held up in the air seems to be presenting balance problems for most everyone.

Vitali Krauchenka was another great, great Mouse King today. It has been extremely effective to have such tall dancers as the Mouse King who has seven heads, but it would also be a hoot to see the likes of a Danny Devito-sized Mouse King.

The two Russian section casts that Haglund has seen have been very well put together and seemed to have worked out unique details of their own. All very entertaining.

Haglund is loving the silvery Snowflakes and the pink sugary Flowers more and more and more. Beautiful corps work by all today.

This lovely Christian Louboutin Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon the exquisite Waltz of the Flowers: